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Re: Is Conrad right?

Karl Malone would figure that he could do it as long as he got his touches.

Circa 2003 JO is not walking through the doors of the Fieldhouse.

Maybe Walsh has a solid enough relationship with Amare that he would come here as long as he could camp out at the offensive end?

Dennis Rodman is not coming here as he is otherwise engaged in his retirement.

No - God No - OMG NO!!!!! The Lakeshow had dangled Bynum and What's-His-Current-Name-Oh-Yeah-Reeses-Pieces for Howard so maybe they are thinking of Ron Ron for the defensive end? Again - No - God No - OMG NO!!!!!

Re: Is Conrad right?

Worrisome that Bruno is floating this out there, what was the context?

My guess is the FO had Bruno publish this. It could be a tactic to let Hibbert's agent know the Pacers aren't interested in paying Hibbert a max contract.

If Portland re-signs Batum to a max can they afford to sign Hibbert to a max? What other teams who need a Center have the cap to sign Hibbert to a max? It just might be the Pacers saying when other teams can't sign Hibbert to a max neither are we. Just be prepared for it b/c we have alternative options. Maybe it's a shot over bow as a warning.

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Re: Is Conrad right?

Conrad is correct. Roy's scoring is not needed as long as David West is there to score down low. Danny, West, Hill, DC, Paul George are all capable scorers. Our low post offense last season was basically "your turn, my turn" with both David and Roy taking turns getting the ball in the post. If Roy leaves, and our post offense runs exclusively through David, we will be fine. To fill the void if Roy leaves, we need a center that will play hard on defense

Being unable to close out a game in which you have a comfortable lead in the 4th Q = Pulling a Frank Vogel

Re: Is Conrad right?

Sure two power forwards can work great, look at Sheed and Ben Wallace.

Unline some of you even though Conrad is paid by the pacers to run their website, I do not believe he floats ideas the pacers want him to float. I believe is is largely an independent voice. (I mean mark Boyle is paid by the pacers too, but he isn't the pacers mouthpiece)

Re: Is Conrad right?

And if after paying Hill 40 million for 5 years they don't pay Roy, I'll seriously have to question the FO.

Yup! I would be disgusted if we overpaid for Hill, who I don't view as crucial at all and IMHO is just a pretty average player, while letting Roy walk who I do view as crucial. I would be tuned off and I don't know if I want to invest much time and money in following a team with a FO which would have such an approach and is then obviously content with just trying to make the playoffs instead of being a major factor of importance in it.

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Re: Is Conrad right?

If Roy Hibbert has hit his peak and never improves again then yeah he is probably right. But that isn't likely as Roy is 25 and has only played four seasons. He has improved every season and odds are he will continue to do so. By matching, you are making a bet that he will continue his year by year improvement. That is a bet that I think we should make. Roy on this roster basically guarantees us a playoff spot. I know that many people on here think this team is going to be the Hawks 2.0, but losing Roy certainly doesn't help us get anywhere.

If we don't re-sign Hibbert then does that tell us we have ownership issues? Walsh almost always took care of his own FA's and I seriously doubt that Pritchard wants to lose Roy to the team he used to work for. Combine that with Bird leaving.......

Re: Is Conrad right?

Heck, maybe Walsh is planning on bringing in Blatche to replace Hibbert. He is available and much much cheaper who can play the 4 & 5.

I hope to God not! It seems that Blatche is much more of a Knucklehead than I thought. From getting into a fist fight with Javale McGee to being a bad teammate on the floor. It got so bad that they benched him and gave him the Jamaal Tinsley treatment late in the season.

Plus he's a terrible defender on the defensive end and a human black hole on offense.

Re: Is Conrad right?

Yes they can afford Hibbert without question, even if Batum was to be retained.

Centers - Okur, Thabeet, Oden are all gone.
PF - JJ Hickson was not extended his QO, so he is gone.
SF - Nic Batum is prolly going to the Wolves, he, like Gordon, has made it clear that he doesn't want to return to Portland and he wants to play for the Wolves.
SG - Jamal Crawford is walking, he opted out.
PG - Raymond Felton is gone, he may end up in NY, but he wont be back to the Blaze. Jonny Flynn was not extended his QO, so he is gone.

Re: Is Conrad right?

Roy wasn't just a tall figure out there, he was the anchor of our entire defense. David West could barely defend his own man let alone any help side defense and any defender that is going to be as good as Roy or better than Roy is going to cost almost as much as Roy.

I've been holding out because I kept telling myself we had till the 14th to make a move here (matching in this case) and that we are just working all angles before making the comittment.

But it now seems like they are setting us up to let us know they are going to let him walk. We still have time so until it either happens or they come out and say it's going to happen I won't panic, but I'm telling you if they let Roy walk and we can bring in no other significant players this off season I am going to be mightily p!ssed.

Yes, but the theory (fact IMO) is that it doesn't matter where the production comes from, as long as you get what you need.

So let's look at what Roy brings, size and all:
1) Post scoring - medium, not great, unstoppable or consistent at this point, and posting West works much better most of the time

2) Rebounding - for his size, not great, but since he is so tall he does get you 8-10. So if you can get 8-10 and some blocking out to help other players get their boards you will be okay

3) Post defense - pretty good, guys can put moves on him a little but his length does give some people problems. OTOH he isn't a shut down defender at his position at all, so he's not a Dwight killer or something (like Pollard vs Shaq).

So if you traded me 98 Dale for 12 Roy and kept West on the team, your starting bigs are great and can deal with everything Roy/West can deal with, and maybe more. Dale was NOT a Max player.

Thus going for a non-max, defensive/rebounding specialist who is really strong in those roles (not just "nice" as a bench guy like Lou) could keep the team moving forward just fine. The key is you need a player that is a good starting PF who would be a Max guy IF he was strong on offense, but isn't. Does that guy exist and is he available? Maybe not, so maybe the premium on Roy is scarcity even into the 6'10" PF range, along with the dreaded "potential".

Does anyone really see Roy/West killing an Antonio/Dale front court? In fact both PFs ended up playing center elsewhere, and ditto for PF Jeff Foster. You just need to have a shot blocker and PHYSICAL rebounder that clears space to get boards or athletically challenges tons of rebounds in traffic and vertically (ie, not Tyler).